I Am Not Alone
by SheaColleen
Summary: Damon and Elena deal with the immediate shock of losing Stefan.


**I do not own TVD, but if I did there would be a lot more naked Damon.**

"It's okay to love them both... I did," Katherine smugly said as she tossed me the empty vile and walked out of the Salvatore boarding house.

The second she said that, I was hit. I was hit with the hollow feeling of knowing Stefan was gone-and may never come back. I was hit with the realization that I can't just pretend there's not something between me and Damon anymore. I was hit with the fact that Klaus won, that my feelings for Damon ran much more than skin deep, and that, worst of all, i was turning into Katherine. in those couple seconds, it honestly felt like I was hit by a train, and Klaus was the driver.

But this feeling was nothing new to me. I felt it when I woke up in the hospital days after my parents died. I felt it as I saw the very man who I may be falling for snap Jeremy's neck. Or when I thought Bonnie was dead, or when I found out that I was the reason everyone I love is in danger, or when I watched Jenna murdered in the ritual...

This feeling is actually very familiar, too familiar in fact. I knew it too well. This feeling is an old friend to me, and at that moment I believed that it would truly never leave.

I looked at Damon and as his eyes met mine, I could see that he was in the same state of panic as I was. His skin had its color back in it already. His eyes weren't glazed anymore. Klaus's blood looked like it really did the trick.

I immediately took out my phone and texted Stefan. "Damon's OK. Where R U?" I typed slowly. I really didn't know what I was expecting to happen. Stefan gave himself over to Klaus. He probably wouldn't be texting me any time soon. But I still had a twinge of hope that he would, and that just maybe he found a way to escape from Klaus. I clenched onto the vile as I hit send.

Damon had enough strength again to sit himself up, before grasping his chest and cringing in pain once again.

Before I even knew it, I was leaning over his bed, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the towel as the vile crashed to the floor.

"Elena... Stefan," he breathed, clearly exhausted from this hell of a day.

"Shh, Damon it's okay. You're okay," I reassured him as I felt panic swelling up inside me like a hurricane.

"No Elena, it's not okay," he said. He shot up and his speed took me by surprise. He found enough strength to run out the door of his bedroom faster than I could humanly see.

"DAMON!" I dropped the towel as I ran after him and found the front door wide open. I ran out across his front lawn to see him on his hands and knees in the middle of the street, lit by a single streetlight. "Damon!" I ran up to meet him.

I knelt down and took hold of his arm as he clenched the ground, leaving hand marks on the pavement. He whispered something but I couldn't understand.

"What?" I asked.

"IT'S ALL MY FAULT," he yelled as he whipped his head to me. Normally I would take my hand off him, back away and be scared. But I wasn't. Things were different now. I trusted him.

"Damon, listen to me. You didn't mean to. We'll go after Klaus and-"

"And WHAT? What are we going to do Elena? Because as of the sacrifice there is NO way to kill Klaus. He has Stefan and there is NO WAY IN HELL we'll ever be able to get him back!" Damon snapped. That took me by surprise. Damon's not one to give up.

We stared at each other in panic for a few moments and I could feel my eyes watering. I still hadn't let go of his arm.

"No," I whispered, fighting back my tears. "We'll get Stefan back. We'll kill Klaus. Damon, it'll be over soon. We'll find a way. We always do." I was not only reassuring him, but I was attempting to reassure myself.

"Face it Elena. There IS no way! Stefan's gone and he's not coming back."

Tears started falling from my eyes. He was right. It was hopeless. I felt empty and more alone than ever at that moment. It was all my fault. This all started with me. Why is everything because of me? My parents died because _I_made them pick me up from that party. Jenna died and now Stefan's gone because _I_was the one Klaus needed to break the curse. Damon almost dies because of _me._At that moment I became tired. A simple feeling. I suddenly became tired from trying desperately to save Damon today, from the pain of losing Jenna and Stefan. Part of me just wanted to fall asleep and never wake up.

Damon saw how his words hurt me. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and stared back at the ground.

"I don't mean that," he said quietly. I knew he didn't mean it, but it was more than likely true, and the truth was hard to hear.

And after a few more moments of silence he said, "Come on, Elena. We'll deal with this in the morning." I let my hand go as he slowly stood up. I was frozen. Tears were falling from my eyes as I realized how impossible this would be. It was hopeless.

Damon knelt down and cupped my face in his hands, wiping the tears from my eyes with his thumbs. "Elena, look at me. You're right. We WILL get through this. We always have and always will." My eyes met his and for a moment I was lost in them. I trusted him.

He helped me up and we walked in the cold back across the lawn to his house. Klaus's blood cured him like magic.

I was tired, drained in more ways than one. Damon saw this and found enough strength to pick me up and carry me in his arms. It was comforting being held against his strong body. I was calming down. He walked to his bedroom and layed me down on the same bed I had just kissed him on a little while ago. I was calmer, but tears still silently fell from my eyes as I thought of the possibility of never seeing Stefan again. I had almost lost Damon today and now I might lose him.

Damon, who pulled himself together with his strength back to normal, took off my shoes and placed the soft covers over me gently. I was exhausted but managed to say, "No, please Damon. You need to rest. I need to know you're going to be okay."

He obviously saw how exhausted I was and said, "Shh, I'll be fine, Elena. Go to sleep."

He turned off the light and started his way out until I grabbed his hand in mine. I could see through the moonlight that he turned around and looked down at our hands before looking at me.

"Please don't go. Damon, I need you. I can't be alone. Please don't leave me!" I started at a whisper but ended in hysterics. My life was a mess. Stefan was gone, Jenna was dead, and now I was terrified that Damon was going to leave me too. The pain of almost losing him tonight made me realize how deeply I really cared about him.

He clenched my hand tighter and whispered, "I will never leave you, Elena."

It almost sounded like a promise.

He lied down in the gigantic bed with me as I started to calm down again.

"Elena?" he asked quietly. I had stopped crying by then. Damon being there with me comforted me enough to calm me down. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry I yelled at you like that." I let out a small laugh. With everything going on, THAT was what he was worried about?

"I forgive you," I said for the second time that night. I gave him a tired smile.

"Oh and, Elena?"

"Yes?"

"I- er, thank you," he stuttered. "You saved my life. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't found you."

I looked into his eyes for another moment. He was clearly avoiding the fact that he had poured his heart to me a little while ago, and I didn't mind. My feelings for him were not something I wanted to deal with at the moment.

"You're welcome."

He stroked my hair and the touch of his hand made me want to fall asleep in his arms. I knew it was wrong, and I knew I might be turning into the woman I hate most, but for some reason it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that I cared about Damon, a lot more deeply than I knew, and I was just happy he was alive.

He stroked my cheek again. "Don't worry, Elena. We'll get through this."

"We always do," I whispered. I couldn't help but feel as though things would only get worse.

Everything was wrong. My world was hanging by a thread. But Damon being there with me gave me hope, and I knew at that moment that I was not alone.

And with that, I fell asleep next to Damon Salvatore, our hands still clasped together.

**Reviews? :) Should I write another chapter or no? I'm sorry if I completely screwed up what you wanted to happen.**


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